MMG Kaplex Trust, a new Israel-based member of the Morgan & Morgan Group of legal, trust and banking professionals, has received its official launch at the annual conference of the Israel Branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

The firm, founded in 1978 by Alon Kaplan, was acquired by Morgan & Morgan in June this year. Kaplan was approached by a friend, Rogelio Tribados-Alba, senior partner at M&M. It bought 100 per cent of the company, which commenced operations on 1 July.

Panama-based M&M’s links to Israel date back to 1947, when that firm’s founder, Eduardo Morgan Alvarez, as the Panamanian member of a United Nations committee, was instrumental in the creation of the state of Israel the following year.

M&M has been keen to acquire the Kaplex Trust business because the firm believed that Israel has a tax-efficient trust sector, is not on any blacklists of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – it is in fact a member of OECD and has double-taxation treaties with many countries – and has a large number of firms listed on exchanges such as the Nasdaq in the US, Kaplan told this publication.

M&M is finalising a European fiduciary network named "FiduNet" in Israel, Cyprus, Switzerland and Hungary.

Kaplan is an expert on trusts and the trusts sector in Israel. To view an example of his views about the benefits and potential of that country, click here.